Aerial ropeway for transport and haulage



I E. A. DERUNGS. AERIAL ROPEWAY FOR TRANSPORT AND HAULAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25,1919.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

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E. A. DERUNGS.

AERIAL ROPEWAY FOR TRANSPORT AND HAULAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25,1919- Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

2 SHFETS-SHEET 2- ERNEST ALPHONSEDERUNGS, or rams, nuance, ASSIGNORTO socrn'rn ANONYME" Arnmnns o'rrs HERE, on PARIS, FRANCE.

AERIAL @GPEVJAY FOB TRANSPORT AND HAULAGE.

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' Application filed Jul .25,

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1, Banner itnrnonsn DERUNGS, a citizen of 'the Republic of Switzerland, of Paris, France, have invented Improvements in Aerial Ropeways for Transport and Haulage, of which the. following is a full, clear, and cract'description.

A. system of transport othaulage on a fixed cable usually comprises a cable, which may consist of a single rope or oi a combina tion of several cables operating in parallel, resting on a number of intermediatesupports arranged at intervals, the extremities of the cable system being firmly secured by anchoring. y i I ,7

Since the sag'ot the cable must be reduced to the minimum, it is' necessary to give a powerful initial tension, which usually acts solely on the anchors, the intermediate supports being subjected, for the most part, to corresponding stresses which are practically equal on both sides of each support.

Apart from this initial tension, the cable has to support various stresses. viz :the weight of the cable, the weight of the carriage or tractor, (when this is carried by the cable,) and the reaction of the haulage rope in the case of haulin or towing.

These stresses reso ve themselves into two components; the one tangential to the cable at the mean point of application of the carriage or of the haulage attachment, and the other in a plane at right angles to the cable at the same point.

The longitudinal component only puts a,

comparatively light strain on the intermediate supports, but this is not the case with the vertical component which, by reason of the very slight sag of the cable, transmits very considerable strains to said supports and in order to take up these strains 'it has, hitherto, been found necessary to embination of two cables whereof the one.

tightly stretched, takes up the horizontal stresses while the other, lightly stretched and deeply sagged, supports the whole of the transverse stresses.

By way of example, the accompanying specification of Letters Patent. P te ted J an. 31, 1922.

1919. Serial ire/313,397.

drawing illustrates diagrammatically, various methods of carrying out the invention n PI'ZIOtICG. In the. drawing, Figure 1 represents an elevation of a section oft-he aerial ropeway system, Figure ,2 an end view thereof and Flgure 3 a similar view of a modification; Figure 4 shows the application of the new system applied to towing on a canal, Figures 5and .6 being respectively a side elevation and plan ment. I As can be seen from the drawing (Figures of this latter arrangef l and the new aerial ropeway system comprisesintermediate supports (1, arranged at intervals all along the line of route, and carrying brackets orarms 7), which may be fixed or articulated. p

These brackets support two cables 0 and (Z, 0 being lightlystretched and therefore sagging deeply, whilst (Z is under powerful tension and has but little sag.

The cable 0 supports a carriage or tractor a driven by any suitable motor and provided with means of any kind for ensuring adherence.

The cable 0 is stretched by the weight of the tractor, but theresultinglongitudinal stresses are supported by the other cable cl in the spans adjacent to the one under. consideration, because the two cables are attached to the same brackets.

In Figure 3 the carriage e is operated by haulage or'towing by means of an attached rope j, the oblique pull of which draws the carriage out of the plane of suspension. Owing, however, to the large sag of the cable, only small stresses are transmitted to the supports.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. a to 6,

instead of having a carriage 0, carried by the cable 0,.a tractor t runs on the ground, or on a suit-able track; this tractor grips on the cable (Z to go forward.

The tractor tows a barge g by means of a rope f secured to a traveller or auxiliary carriage h which runs freely on the sagging cable 0, to which it transmits the greater portion or the transverse stress due to the obliquity oi. the towing pull. That portion of the rope which is between the traveller h and the tractor It may be of suiiicient length to reduce the transverse stress on the tractor to a minimum.

The pull exerted by the carrier on the cable 0 sets up stresses, in the arms 6, which tend to subject the cable (Z to a supplemen tary tension. To facilitate the distribution 7 of the tensions overthe whole length of this detailed are only a few of themethods of carrying out the invention, which may be modified in various ways 1n practical application. Thus, without departing from the spirit of the invention, either of the cables may be used for the propulsion of the tractor; the brackets may be dispensed with by attaching the cables direct to the supports;

the sagging cable may be subjectedto a momentary pull, by any suitable means, during the passage of the tractor or traveller, so as to increase the sag in the corresponding portions of the cable and thereby lessen longitudinal stresses, the sag becoming so great that the cable rests on the ground;

the rigidity of the taut cable may be increased by providing a catenary suspension; one or other of the cables may be replaced by a chain or other equivalent device, with 30 a view to improving the adherence; one or other ofthe cables may be replaced by a plurality of cables; an endless rope may be employed for the transmission of motive power, such rope being independent of the fixed cables comprised in the system.

Moreover, any of the detail devices may be modified in any case to suit the particular method of application. 7

Claim- In an aerial ropeway for transport and haulage, supports placed on a different line from the path of the body hauled, a cable which is stretched taut and connecting said supports, another cable under light tension, the two cables being fixed at the same points on the supports, the traveller being carried by this cable under light tension,-a tractor running on the ground, in the plane of the" taut cable, a rope fixed to the tractor, passing on the traveller, and fixed to the body moved, this rope making a very small angle relatively to the taut cable. 7

The foregoing specification of my improvements in aerial ropeways for transport and haulage, signed by me, this twentythird day of June, 1919.7

7 ERNEST ALPHONSE DERUNGS, 

